I have no idea what to make of the latest news pop singer Rihanna is set to star alongside Alexander Skarsgard (“True Blood”) and Taylor Kitsch (Wolverine) in Peter Berg’s board game adaptation Battleship, but apparently those are the facts. There are no details in terms of her character, but the film is expected to begin filming shortly for a May 25, 2012 release.
The screenplay was written by Jon and Erich Hoeber who co-wrote the awful 2009 effort Whiteout starring Kate Beckinsale as well as the upcoming graphic novel adaptation Red for Summit Entertainment.
Battleship is in some way inspired by the Hasbro board game of the same name and will take place across the seas, the skies and over land in a battle for planet survival against a superior force. Kitsch stars as a Naval officer who leads the fight and Skarsgard will play his brother in the film.
Universal put together a big meet and greet with the blogging community last November in an effort to squash rumors and speculation surrounding the film, not to mention do a little glad handing. The move worked and eased the storm for the time being, but this all just sounds so preposterous to me I don’t know where to start.
The one thing that keeps me from casting a serious shadow of doubt is the involvement of Peter Berg, whom I most often like, but Hancock appears to have clouded his vision. Thankfully he put that proposed sequel aside, but moving on to this project is a bit of a question mark.
Of course, with production not yet underway and a flimsy synopsis to go on at this point there’s no way to make heads or tails of how this could turn out, but casting a pop star isn’t the best way to eliminate doubt.
